This morning, in the Vatican Apostolic Palace, the Holy Father Leo XIV received in audience Her Grace Sarah Mullally, Archbishop of Canterbury.
The following is the address delivered by the Pope to those present at the meeting:
Address of the Holy Father
Your Grace,
Peace be with you!
In the joy of this Paschal season, as we continue to celebrate the resurrection of the Lord Jesus from the dead, I am pleased to welcome you and your Delegation to the Vatican.
Your visit brings to mind the memorable encounter between Saint Paul VI and Archbishop Michael Ramsey sixty years ago, the anniversary of which you marked with Cardinal Koch in Canterbury Cathedral on the morning after your installation. Since then, Archbishops of Canterbury and Bishops of Rome have continued to meet and pray together, and I am glad that we are continuing this tradition today. I am likewise grateful for the ministry of the Anglican Centre in Rome, also established sixty years ago, and I greet in a special way the Centre’s Director, Bishop Anthony Ball, whom you will commission this evening as your Representative to the Holy See.
Throughout these days of Eastertide, the first words spoken by the risen Christ resound throughout the Church: “Peace be with you” (Jn 20:19). This greeting invites us not only to accept the Lord’s gift of peace, but also to be messengers of his peace. I have often mentioned that the peace of the risen Jesus is “unarmed.” This is because he always responded to violence and aggression in an unarmed way, inviting us to do likewise. Moreover, I believe that Christians must bear prophetic and humble witness to this profound reality together (cf. Message for the LIX World Day of Peace, 1 January 2026).
While our suffering world greatly needs the peace of Christ, the divisions among Christians weakens our capacity to be effective bearers of that peace. If the world is to take our preaching to heart, we must, therefore, be constant in our prayers and efforts to remove any stumbling blocks that hinder the proclamation of the Gospel. This focus on the need for unity for the sake of a more fruitful evangelization has been a theme throughout my own ministry; indeed it is reflected in the motto I chose when I became a bishop: In Illo uno unum, “In the One — that is Christ — we are one” (Saint Augustine, Enarr. in Ps., 127, 3).
In this regard, when Archbishop Michael Ramsey and Saint Paul VI announced the first theological dialogue between Anglicans and Catholics, they spoke of seeking the “restoration of complete communion in faith and sacramental life” (Common Declaration, 24 March 1966). Certainly this ecumenical journey has been complex. While much progress has been made on some historically divisive issues, new problems have arisen in recent decades, rendering the pathway to full communion more difficult to discern. I know that the Anglican Communion is also facing many of these same questions at this time. Nevertheless, we must not allow these continuing challenges to prevent us from using every possible opportunity to proclaim Christ to the world together. As my beloved predecessor, Pope Francis, said to the Primates of the Anglican Communion in 2024, “it would be a scandal if, due to our divisions, we did not fulfil our common vocation to make Christ known” (Address to Primates of the Anglican Communion, 2 May 2024). For my part, I add that it would also be a scandal if we did not continue to work towards overcoming our differences, no matter how intractable they may appear.
As we continue to journey together in friendship and dialogue, then, let us pray that the Holy Spirit, whom the Lord breathed on the disciples on the evening after his resurrection, will guide our steps as we prayerfully and humbly seek the unity which is the Lord’s will for all his disciples.
Your Grace, in thanking you for your visit today, I pray that the same Holy Spirit will remain with you always, making you fruitful in the service to which you have been called.
May God bless you and your family.
